Human rights activists are urging President Obama to press Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to address several cases of alleged abuse by his government’s security forces.
With Obama scheduled to meet with Nieto at the White House Tuesday, the activists are asking for more accountability from Mexico for the $2 billion that the U.S. has sent its government since 2007 through the Merida Initiative, a joint U.S.-Mexico effort combat organized crime.
“Mexico is facing its worst human rights crisis in years, with security forces committing horrific abuses that are rarely punished,” said Daniel Wilkinson, a managing director at Human Rights Watch. “The Pena Nieto administration has so far failed to take this crisis seriously, and President Obama has been unwilling to call them out on it.”
Wilkinson also highlighted a condition requiring 15 percent of the U.S. assistance provided under the Merida Initiative to depend on Mexico meeting a set of basic human rights requirements, which he said include ensuring that the government investigates and prosecutes alleged violations by its security forces.
Human rights activists point to two recent incidents they say the Mexican government has yet to investigate properly — the killings of 22 people by Mexican soldiers in Tlatlaya, Mexico State, in June of 2014, and the disappearance of 43 students in Iguala, Guerrero, in September. Both have drawn international media attention and sparked public protests in Mexico.
The activists argue that the Obama administration has repeatedly certified that the Mexican government is meeting the Merida requirements despite clear evidence that they aren’t. They are urging the administration to withhold further certification until Mexico makes significant progress in prosecuting alleged abuses by its military and other security forces.
“If President Obama wants to be a genuinely good partner, he needs to be wiling to say what the Mexican government needs to hear,” Wilkinson said.
